I'm 58 yo, couple of weeks ago was diagnosed having glucose (10hrs fasting) 156, glucose 2 hrs after meal 201; total choles 167; trigleseride 151; HDL Choles 48; LDL Choles 88; HbA1c 11.0. At the moment having oral remediation GlucophageXR Metformin HCL 500 mg and Crestor 10 mg. What sort of meal and excercise would speed up to normalize the HbA1c value.
HbA1c, how to manage and to find it's proper value
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Mike d
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Welcome 
No real answers to this question until we know what your diet is right now. What do you eat across the day?? We must know that so we have somewhere to start with providing advice
I assume being Indonesian (are you?) you eat a lot of rice and potatoes and fruits ?? If that is the case, NONE of that is any good as they're loaded with sugars (or foods that quickly turn to glucose once consumed) and I suspect that is why your HBA1C is as high as it is. That has to be brought down and quickly. You need to eat a LOT of leafy green vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, broccolli) and carefully consider a low carb / hi fat diet (LCHF).
The 3 rules are these and not necessarily in this order.
1. Diet (controlled)
2. Medications.
3. Exercise
As for exercise, what is your current weight? I see you're 58 so start walking .... a LOT ...... and consume water
No real answers to this question until we know what your diet is right now. What do you eat across the day?? We must know that so we have somewhere to start with providing advice
I assume being Indonesian (are you?) you eat a lot of rice and potatoes and fruits ?? If that is the case, NONE of that is any good as they're loaded with sugars (or foods that quickly turn to glucose once consumed) and I suspect that is why your HBA1C is as high as it is. That has to be brought down and quickly. You need to eat a LOT of leafy green vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, broccolli) and carefully consider a low carb / hi fat diet (LCHF).
The 3 rules are these and not necessarily in this order.
1. Diet (controlled)
2. Medications.
3. Exercise
As for exercise, what is your current weight? I see you're 58 so start walking .... a LOT ...... and consume water
Yes, you're right. I eat those things as you mentioned above. However, soon after being diagnosed having a high HbA1c, as recomended by the physician, I consulted to a nutrician to have diet program, then at the moment I consume a typical rice with low calorie (at a limited quantity), greenish vegetables, fruits (water melon, apple, papaya, etc). Interm of excercise, jogging and static cycling for about 45-60 minutes, almost everyday. My current weight 67 kg (previously 70 kg), height 162 cm.
Mike d
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Weight is OK for your height. Fruits (water melon, apple, papaya, etc) are not. Rice is not either. All that great exercise you're doing is offsetting your poor BS levels. Now I do KNOW what the staple diets are for you guys, but you will have to change it. Are you testing your blood sugars with a meter? If you are not. then you will never understand how to control this condition.
Mike
Mike
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Hello Joko1401! Welcome to the forum and be prepared for more advice than you may want, but it's all with good intention.
I was just in Bali and Malang last November. They are beautiful places and the people are very nice - and so many people! The food was really good too! So much seafood - very good for diabetics if prepared the right way. I was not yet diagnosed as diabetic, but I think I could eat quite well there by just not eating rice or bread or pastries (those Dutch pastries and Roti Boy - so good! yet bad for diabetics ) and eating everything else, except the tropical fruits, which were also so good - but now I'd have to avoid them.
Your exercise routine sounds very good. Resistance exercise (weight lifting) is also good if you can add that.
Your fasting level is a bit high, but your post meal is not all that bad.
Your diet is one area you can really use to control your blood glucose. It sounds like you have a blood glucose meter and you are testing - this is excellent.
The key is to reduce the amount of carbohydrates (i.e. rice, potatoes, fruit) in your meals until your rise in blood glucose is not too high. As Mike says above, rice and fruit may no work for you. And stay away from McDonald's hamburgers and french fries and all sodas like Coke, etc., and sugar, although you have probably figured that out already.
The web page gives excellent advice on how to do this: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
The could news is that a low calorie diet may not be necessary, just a low carb diet.
This website is geared towards Europeans/Westerners, but should be helpful to you: http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
Good luck and ask lots of questions on this forum.
I was just in Bali and Malang last November. They are beautiful places and the people are very nice - and so many people! The food was really good too! So much seafood - very good for diabetics if prepared the right way. I was not yet diagnosed as diabetic, but I think I could eat quite well there by just not eating rice or bread or pastries (those Dutch pastries and Roti Boy - so good!
yet bad for diabetics ) and eating everything else, except the tropical fruits, which were also so good - but now I'd have to avoid them.Your exercise routine sounds very good. Resistance exercise (weight lifting) is also good if you can add that.
Your fasting level is a bit high, but your post meal is not all that bad.
Your diet is one area you can really use to control your blood glucose. It sounds like you have a blood glucose meter and you are testing - this is excellent.
The key is to reduce the amount of carbohydrates (i.e. rice, potatoes, fruit) in your meals until your rise in blood glucose is not too high. As Mike says above, rice and fruit may no work for you. And stay away from McDonald's hamburgers and french fries and all sodas like Coke, etc., and sugar, although you have probably figured that out already.
The web page gives excellent advice on how to do this: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php
The could news is that a low calorie diet may not be necessary, just a low carb diet.
This website is geared towards Europeans/Westerners, but should be helpful to you: http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
Good luck and ask lots of questions on this forum.
daisy1
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@joko1401
Hello Joko and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. I agree that it is carbohydrates you need to reduce, not calories. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 130,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello Joko and welcome to the forum
Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. I agree that it is carbohydrates you need to reduce, not calories. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 130,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hello every one,
Following Mike's suggestion earlier, this morning I checked my BS by BS meter; before meals 103, then having meals consist of 1 boiled potato, 1 boiled banana, wheat bread (2 slice) with a non fat, a cup of green tea (no sugar). Two hours later was 132. In between, I did a static cycling excercise at duration of 45 minutes, distance was recorded 9.10 km, callory released 210.
The question is, do I've to reduce meals or change to a different menu?
Following Mike's suggestion earlier, this morning I checked my BS by BS meter; before meals 103, then having meals consist of 1 boiled potato, 1 boiled banana, wheat bread (2 slice) with a non fat, a cup of green tea (no sugar). Two hours later was 132. In between, I did a static cycling excercise at duration of 45 minutes, distance was recorded 9.10 km, callory released 210.
The question is, do I've to reduce meals or change to a different menu?
Mike d
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I don't really work with figures such as those (different measuring logic employed in the UK and Australia) but from what I've just read online, they look pretty good. 5.7 to 7.3 in our (mmol/l) language.
That said, I reckon they would be a LOT better without the bread and the banana.
That said, I reckon they would be a LOT better without the bread and the banana.
Mike d
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Very good point re the exercise. Better to change the diet and lower the numbers instead of overdoing the physical work to achieve a similar result, especially after every meal. Who wants to do that?
Dunno if the exercise contributed to the 132 reading. Some people drop .... others don't
Dunno if the exercise contributed to the 132 reading. Some people drop .... others don't
NoCrbs4Me
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Hello every one,
Firstly, I just check my BS, before meals 128 mg/dL and 2 hrs after meals 123 mg/dL. Dinner last night consisted of low carb rice and roasted chicken, while breakfast had 2 pices of potatoes and boiled banana. At the moment still consume oral medication of Glucophage XR (Metformin HCl 500 mg). Excercise running for 45 minutes.
Does any one can prove, why the earlier BS was higher value.
Secondly, I was diagnosed having HbA1c 11.0 on Januari 12, and will be tested again three months later. I check my BS everyday and noted type of meals as well. Is there any "likely indicator" the decrease of HbA1c related to the downward BS than at the time of being diagnosed.
Thanks alot
Firstly, I just check my BS, before meals 128 mg/dL and 2 hrs after meals 123 mg/dL. Dinner last night consisted of low carb rice and roasted chicken, while breakfast had 2 pices of potatoes and boiled banana. At the moment still consume oral medication of Glucophage XR (Metformin HCl 500 mg). Excercise running for 45 minutes.
Does any one can prove, why the earlier BS was higher value.
Secondly, I was diagnosed having HbA1c 11.0 on Januari 12, and will be tested again three months later. I check my BS everyday and noted type of meals as well. Is there any "likely indicator" the decrease of HbA1c related to the downward BS than at the time of being diagnosed.
Thanks alot
NoCrbs4Me
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The high before meal readings are probably due to too much carbs in your diet. With numbers like you are getting, you should be well below 11% for your next HbA1c test.
You can check out this converter:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-blood-sugar-level-converter.html
Based on your readings, your HbA1c would be about 6% after 3 months of blood glucose levels like the ones you are getting.
You can check out this converter:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-blood-sugar-level-converter.html
Based on your readings, your HbA1c would be about 6% after 3 months of blood glucose levels like the ones you are getting.
How to convert BS unit in "mg/dL" to "mmol/L" ? I'm not familiar with this unit. My BS meter unit is mg/dL, while in this forum is mmol/L. So I can't convert my BS reading to HbA1c value as suggested earlier.
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or to do it in your head divide divide the mg/dl by 18. An easy way to do that is half it and then divide by 9 (or by 3 then by 3)
eg 176 -> 88 -> 9+7/9 -> 9.7777777
BTW 1/9 = 0.11111111... 2/9=0.22222222... 3/9=0.33333333 .... etc
I was so surprised and very useful following discussion in this forum.
My first HbA1c diagnosed on January 10, 2015 was 11.0 %, then browsing on the internet and find this forum.
Recomendation to consume low carb and test BS are highly appreciated.
I also follow a recomendation to note type of food, both at dinner and breakfast, to find "the likeliness" relation to BS fluctuation.
BS test takes everyday for about 1 month, then in general can be found type of food which support to maintain BS at normal level.
At the moment, my BS 6.0%.
Thanks every one for your support and recomd.
My first HbA1c diagnosed on January 10, 2015 was 11.0 %, then browsing on the internet and find this forum.
Recomendation to consume low carb and test BS are highly appreciated.
I also follow a recomendation to note type of food, both at dinner and breakfast, to find "the likeliness" relation to BS fluctuation.
BS test takes everyday for about 1 month, then in general can be found type of food which support to maintain BS at normal level.
At the moment, my BS 6.0%.
Thanks every one for your support and recomd.
